1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a method and apparatus for handling a data error in a data transmission system including a relay station which receives data from a transmission apparatus and transmits the data to a receiving apparatus, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for generating an error generation indicator for data including a generated error and transmitting the error generation indicator to a receiving apparatus when an error is generated in data received from a transmission apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since wireless communication technology has been developed, a wireless network, which can conventionally transmit only a voice signal, has become so developed that the wireless network may transmit data.
When the voice signal is transmitted, only some noise is generated in the voice signal even though an error is generated in a portion of the transmitted voice signal. When two calling persons can recognize each other's voices even though the noise is generated in the voice signal, the voice signal can be continuously transmitted.
Conversely, when the data is transmitted, even though an error is generated in only one bit of a data frame of a predetermined length when transmitting the data, all of the data included in the entire data frame cannot be used. As wireless data transmission increases, a technology of handling the error generated when transmitting the data has been increasingly regarded as important.
A technology of handling the error generated when transmitting the data can be generally classified into two schemes, that is, an Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) and a Forward Error Correction (FEC).
A Hybrid ARQ (HARQ) is a technology of combining the ARQ with the FEC and handling the error. The HARQ detects an error generated in data using the FEC. When the error is generated in the data, the HARQ requests a transmission apparatus to retransmit the data including a generated error, combines the originally-transmitted data including a generated error with the retransmitted data in response to a retransmission request, and decodes error-free data.
The conventional HARQ is useful for directly transmitting the data from the transmission apparatus to a receiving apparatus. However, the HARQ is required to be respectively used between the transmission apparatus and a relay station, and between the relay station and the receiving apparatus in order to apply the HARQ to a system for transmitting the data from the transmission apparatus to the receiving apparatus via the relay station. Accordingly, when a number of relay stations increases, the system becomes complex, and a transmission efficiency decreases.
Accordingly, a method and apparatus for handling data error in a data transmission system including a relay station is needed.